'Donald Trump is afraid': Analyst explains what led to furious meltdown before journalists

Reacting to Donald Trump's stunning display of anger on a stage in Chicago before the National Association of Black Journalists convention, Mara Gay of the New Your Times editorial board told the panel on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that the ex-president is in fear for his future.

Trump's abrasive responses to questions from moderator Rachel Scott of ABC News led to gasps and nervous laughter from the assembled journalists and Gay contended that the pressure of watching Vice President Kamala Harris eclipse him on the polls has the former president in a panic.

"I think lately, Donald Trump has been trying to do his best impression of someone who actually respects women and likes black people," Gay began. "Now that Kamala Harris is the frontrunner and there's so much energy and momentum behind that campaign and really excitement about someone who represents the future of the United States, a multiracial democracy, biracial people are the fastest growing segment of America, I think now Donald Trump is afraid.

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"I think he is probably losing this election, and I think he feels that," she elaborated. "So what he is doing is he's going back to his old playbook of racism that really propelled his campaign back in 2016 when he started talking about Mexicans as rapists," she elaborated. "This is really just birtherism 2.0. It is clearly offensive."

"I do believe he went for a confrontation," she accused. "I think it was a way of saying to his base, and not just any Republicans, but to the deepest part, the most racist part of that base, 'Don't worry. We as white Americans, we still get to define race in America.' "

"I think it was a way of making himself feel big," she concluded.

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MSNBC 08 01 2024 06 09 40 youtu.be